Is this an area that needs toning? A Manhattan gynecologist thinks so.

By NATASHA SINGER

First came the ¡°medical spa, or medi spa, offering dermatology services in a retail setting. And now comes the first medi spa in Manhattan wholly dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman¡¯s genital area. Phit - short for pelvic health integrated techniques - opened in July.
Dr. Lauri Romanzi, a clinical associate professor of gynecology at NewYork- Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital, has developed her own concept of ¡°pelvic fitness.¡±
She said that Phit (w w w. t h e p e r f e c t p h i t .com) will help women get ¡°in shape from the inside out.
The spa is essentially a dressedup examination room down the hall from Dr. Romanzi¡¯s medical practice. At the spa, the signature treatment is a $150 gynecological exam - in which a client contracts her pelvic muscles around Dr. Romanzi¡¯s fingers - to determine by feel whether muscle tone is weak, moderate or strong.
Clients can also use an in-office electrostimulation machine to improve pelvic muscle tone or buy a device for home use. Dr. Romanzi said that such treatments are intended to improve bladder control; she said pelvic training may also lead to more intense orgasms.
Welcome to the era of the gyno spa.
Some doctors scoff at the notion of pelvic fitness, which is not a medical term.
There are no medical standards for determining what constitutes normal ¡°fitness or how to evaluate it, said Dr. Abbey B. Berenson, a gynecologist who directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women¡¯s Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
The pelvis had already become a marketable area for modification, ranging from the Brazilian bikini wax to genital surgery referred to as vaginal ¡°rejuvenation.
The advent of the pelvic spa, however, takes body fixation to a new level.
¡°Whether the marketing is pushing the women or women are pushing the marketing, I don¡¯t think anybody knows, Dr. Berenson said.
Dr. Romanzi said her goal was to teach women how to properly perform Kegel exercises, intended to strengthen the sling-shaped muscle that supports the bladder, vagina and rectum. Gynecologists sometimes suggest such pelvic physiotherapy for minor vaginal laxity after childbirth or for mild urinary incontinence.
But Dr. Romanzi believes all women might benefit from such exercises.
¡°If you can vote and you have a vagina, you should do these,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s the dental floss of feminine fitness.¡±
But Dr. Berenson questioned whether healthy women need any kind of pelvic strengthening or cosmetic procedure. ¡°The common practice in gynecology is we treat where there is a problem, Dr. Berenson said. ¡°It¡¯ll be interesting to see if there are people who actually request these services.

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